A. Field of the Invention PA1 B. Background Art
This invention relates to the field of display containers for windshield wiper assemblies.
A primary purpose or objective of the display container is to present an attractive medium for presenting the windshield wiper to the consumer. Display containers for windshield wipers typically house the wiper within a clear plastic blister to allow the consumer to view the wiper assembly itself before purchase. Ideally, the display container should also be a reclosable package. Moreover, the display package should not damage the wiper blade during transport or storage of the package and wiper. To understand further these characteristics of a preferred windshield wiper container, some discussion of the peculiarities of windshield wipers and the circumstances surrounding their sale is appropriate.
Windshield wipers are mainly sold as an after-market replacement part in auto supply stores, service stations, and other retail outlets. Because the original equipment wiper and wiper arm specifications for each car manufacturer vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, the consumer's task of finding the correct replacement windshield wiper assembly for their particular make, model, and year of car, is formidable. Indeed, frequently the consumer purchases the wrong windshield wiper assembly, but only realizes this after opening the windshield wiper display package and unsuccessfully attempting to install the wiper assembly. When the display package for the windshield wiper assembly is not a reclosable package (as is the often the case), the opening of the package involves the mutilation or complete destruction of the package. When the customer returns the mutilated package to the store along with the wiper assembly for a refund, the store has on its hands an essentially unsalable product, as future customers at the store pass over the mutilated packages (sometimes crudely repaired) when selecting windshield wipers for purchase. In the aggregate, this problem of packaging of windshield wipers is of considerable importance to the automotive after-market parts industry. The present display container for windshield wipers overcomes this problem.
One reclosable windshield wiper display package in the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,947, issued to Reighart. In this package, the backing strip for a blister only partially covers the back of the blister. A removable sleeve slides over the top end of the blister and covers the open portion of the back of the blister. By removal of the sleeve, the wiper is exposed through the open back portion of the blister, permitting easy removal of the wiper from the blister. This design is a relatively cumbersome and expensive design, in that it requires the manufacture and assembly of two parts instead of one.
Display packages for windshield wipers present other challenges which have not been satisfactorily recognized or solved by the prior art. Windshield wipers are typically displayed for fairly long periods of time in a vertical orientation. Frequently, wipers are also shipped and stored in a vertical orientation as well. When a windshield wiper is simply placed in a plastic blister package and stored and displayed in a vertical orientation, as is common in the industry, the lower region of the elastic wiping element of the wiper assembly is pressed into contact with interior surface of the blister. Due to the resilient nature of the wiping element, the edge of the wiping element becomes deformed from a strait wiping edge. When the wiper is positioned for weeks or months in such a condition, the edge of the wiping element typically takes on a set, or permanent configuration, according to the shape it was deformed into. This set can greatly reduce the wiping performance of the windshield wiper once installed on an automobile.
The consumer understandably blames the poor performance of the windshield wiper on the wiper element, but often the real problem is not the wiper at all, but rather the display container for the windshield wiper. This problem has been largely unrecognized by the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,255, issued to Fisher, is directed to a method of bundling and shipping of windshield wiper containers, and recognizes that windshield wipers are stored in a vertical orientation. However, the Fisher patent does not address the wiper set problem. Moreover, the Reighart patent discussed above also does not address the wiper set problem. However, we have recognized this problem and provide a novel and effective solution to this problem.